Sorry... I think...

Its been a long time since I wrote on here last. Thats either a bad thing if you like the posts, or a good thing if you dislike them.

Since then not much has changed in the job situation. I'm still looking. I was out for several hours today and still nothing too promising. I went to a temp agency. They MIGHT find me something, but its not very hopeful. The economy is so bad most places are laying off, not hiring on.

Janell went to the doctor the other day and found out we are having a little boy in February. He will give Drew someone to play with if nothing else. At least we can recycle Drew's clothes on him. I'm not going to tell you any names yet, I want you guessing. I guess to raise money, we could auction the baby's name off. I bet someone would pay a lot of money to have us name him "Dr. Pepper" Frederick. I like the sound of that... I don't think Janell will go for it though.

I baked us up some bread yesterday. We had roast for dinner Sunday, so I made bread so we could make beef manhattans with the left-overs. Homemade bread isn't really all that hard to make, but it is one of my favorites. Janell doesn't know how to make it so the responsibility lies on my shoulders. 

Mid terms in college are next week. It should be interesting to say the least. I hope I can pass them and all. Really, I've done pretty well so far this year. I've had lots of time to study though with no job and all. 

Well, thats about it for now. I had better go, the beef manhattans are about ready to be eaten. And eaten they will be...

Out with the old, in with the new!

Today was a big day for us. It wasn't planned to be that way, but it was.

Most of you know Janell is expecting our second child in February. This means we need to find a crib for the baby, or a toddler bed for Drew. What would be the best? We didn't know.

When Janell was expecting Drew, her home church in Georgia gave us a brand-new crib. They even let us pick out the wood color we would like. It is very nice. The people at Victory Baptist Church in Thomasville, GA are always so nice to us when we go down for a visit. 

Back to the crib: It is a transformable bed. I don't know if that is the term you should use, but it sounds good. It can be 'transformed' from a crib, to a toddler bed, to a twin-size bed (with additional rails). It is a very nice setup for any couple expecting, especially a young couple expecting their first child. 

Today we made a big step forward. We (mostly I) transformed Drew's crib into the toddler bed. Now he has to sleep like a big-boy. He is excited about it. 

His mother, however, is not. Its not like she doesn't like the idea of the toddler bed, she is just anxious it may be too early. More than that, she thinks its too early for her baby to grow up. She almost cried looking at the bed this afternoon.

I think its time. He needs to learn before the new baby comes. We don't want Drew crying for his old bed while baby X is trying to sleep. Thats the last thing we want. 

I decided its time. We changed the bed. I guess tonight we'll learn how long how Drew (and more importantly Mommy) think of the bed. I hope it goes well...

I couldn't take it if two people were crying over the baby bed...

Back to school.

As many of you know, this semester I decided to go back to college. 

For most, going back to school is somewhat easy. All they have to do is sign up online, or go to the local community college. For me, it wasn't that easy.

The biggest problem I had to face was moving my entire family 400+ miles so I could finish. Then I had to find a job (which is a task yet unfinished) and take few enough classes so I wouldn't fail miserably. 

We decided to move around the first of August. The trip seemed long, but worth it. A friend of ours found a nice house for us. We really like it and the people we rent it from.

Next step is a job. Thats still being worked on. Please pray that I will find a job. Every time we have a need, the Lord has provided, but I would really like to work.

Finally, I registered for classes. This will be my first full-week in school, again. 

I only took three classes, to keep it simple. History of Civilization, English Grammar and Composition 2, and Greek 3. These classes are interesting so say the least. It has been a long time since I was in class. I am studying a lot though due to not having a job. I think I'm doing fairly well so far.

Well, thats the story of us going back to college. It wasn't very interesting, I know. Hopefully it will get you caught-up on how we are doing, and what we are doing.

Hope to see you all again soon!

Family, part 2

Now we come to our "furry son," Petie. 

We got Petie in early November, 2005. At the time, I was driving a truck and was away from home a lot. Janell got lonely sometimes, and we thought it would be better if she had a dog at home with her at night while I was gone.

  Thats when we got Petie (on left). He has been so much fun to have as well. Of course, he was supposed to be Janell's dog, but now he is mine. As I type this he is on top of my left foot, asleep. He wants to go with me everywhere I go, and do everything I do. Drew is like that to some extent, but he is still too little to do some things. Petie is right there with me if I am anywhere in the house.

I chose this picture because it shows Petie's tail very well. Notice the curly-que tail he's got? Well, he had is more like it. Last Sunday he got hit by a car. It didn't hurt him too bad, but he had to have part of his pretty tail amputated. Now he's got about 4 inches if stub following him. It could have been worse, I'm glad we still have Petie, even if we don't have his tail.

Its interesting to note, too. Drew was born at the hospital in Fairfield,IL. We got Petie out of the Wayne County Animal Shelter in Fairfield, IL. 

Now we come to my wife, Janell.

                              

Janell and I met in 2002 when I came to Crown College the first time. I was a freshman, she was a sophomore. At the time, we knew each other. I worked in the kitchen, I knew everyone! She also had some very good friends that worked there as well.

When we came back from summer vacation, something was different. I got my first cell phone. We started talking more. Before long, we were dating. 

In August of 2004, we got engaged. We had spent the whole summer apart. Janell was at Venture of Faith camp in Valdosta, GA. I was serving my internship at Calvary Baptist Church in Estherville, IA. 

After several more months apart (her-TN finishing college; I-in FL for college and IL for job and house) we were married on May 20, 2005. Janell had just graduated May 16 of that year. 

Janell is originally from south Georgia and has a bachelor's degree in Music Ministry from Crown.

We have not always had it easy, or got along, but we have had a great time being married. I couldn't think of anything I would rather have done for the last 3 years.

Well, thats us! You'll find out more about me as this goes (if you don't already know me). Hope to see you soon!

Top O' the Morning!

Well, its morning. Morning is not my favorite part of the day. In fact, its not in the top 300 times of the day. Yeah, its that bad.

I figure most of you probably know us. If not, it probably wouldn't be nearly as interesting to read what I'm writing, would it? 

Well, for those of you who don't know us, I'm going to give you a little introduction. First, lets start with Drew.

Well, here's Drew. There is so much about him, I don't even know where to start. I'm sure most of the stories on here are going to be about him some way or another.

Lets start with his name, Paul Andrew Frederick, II. This always causes some confusion. Some people just don't know what to call him (including my Grandpa). They start will Paul, Jr., Little Paul, Andrew, Paul Andrew. For the record, his name is Drew. Shouldn't be that 

difficult.

When we found out Janell was going to have a boy, we decided to name him after me, but what should we call him? At first we were going to call him Andy. One of my best friends is Andy King, and I liked the name. Then we thought, won't that get confusing for a little boy? This is where my Aunt Janie Ross comes in to the whole story.

"Why don't you name him Drew?"

Drew? Drew! Ta-dah! That day we decided on the name. I mean, everyone loves Drew Carey (and he loves the Cleveland Indians) so why not. 

Then, on October 17, 2006, Drew Frederick was born at Fairfield Memorial Hospital in Fairfield, IL. He was so tiny, and he still takes after his mother in that respect. He has almost no chance of ever being tall. He is big enough to fill up our lives, though. I don't know what we ever did without him. 

Well, thats about all the typing I can stand at this time. I'll introduce you to Janell and Petie maybe later. I'm having a problem getting pictures put on here in the right place. I'll get it figured out and you'll get to see lots of pictures before too long.

Is this it?

Ok, here we go. I think...

For a long time I wasn't even exactly sure what a "blog" was. Sounds like something you get caught on the bottom of your shoe in a seedy hotel parking lot after you've had the worst day traveling in history. Yeah, it really does sound that bad. I didn't want much to do with it. You can understand why now.

Then something amazing happened. Everyone we knew had a blog. 

"You have to check my/our blog," they would say.

"Why," says I, "I've seen them before. Not that interesting." This, I found, always got interesting looks. I guess they didn't understand my personal definition of blog.

Enter stage left, my wife. She got to looking at blogs. She even read the blogs. Some of the interesting stories and antic dotes she had read captured my attention. The whole blogging thing started sounding appealing to me.

For weeks I've been reading blogs. I'm unemployed, so I have lots of free time on my hand. I read blogs from everyone. Missionaries, Pastors, people I didn't know. It was great fun. Now we are coming in this little timeline to this afternoon.

2:30 PM

"We ought to have a blog," said Janell, "we live so far from out families, they would enjoy seeing the pictures and stories."

Hmmm. Interesting. Interesting indeed. Could I in fact write my own blog? I had written articles for local papers while in high school. Most of them were news-based, but opinion-based articles always sounded like something I could enjoy.

9:24 PM

I'm almost done writing my first blog. So far the experience has been delightful. Maybe tomorrow or the next day I will explain who the Frederick family is and why I feel your eyes are worthy of my opinions. I think you'll enjoy it. That, or maybe I'll explain the "Frederick Forum" thing. Either way I hope to entertain and inform in several strategically-placed blows to your consciences. 

Enjoy. I'm sure I will.